Headlights in the Fog

Art and Lego meet at the Swedish Museum

Saturday we went to the American Swedish Museum to see an exhibit by  Nathan Sawaya. He uses legos as his medium with which to express himself. It was quite amazing. My parents went with us as well and we had a grand time. 
Yes, a 6 foot high pencil made entirely from lego. We happened to go on a day when they were having all these other lego-related activities. The kids and myself made buildings to go in to a town being created that day. Here we are building:
Here are our finished buildings:

In creative news, I've purchased the yarn to make a new sweater, am working on a new fabric backpack and talked myself out of signing up to be a craftsperson for the school holiday craft fair. I'm really aiming for this year to be a handmade holiday season for all the relatives and taking on a craft fair would divert my energy entirely in to that. My interning continues to be a huge blessing in my life... I feel like I may actually be able to refer to myself as a 'good cook' one day.

Kitty-isms

Kitty has adopted yet another lovey... his name is Sammy, but gets called 'Puppy' more frequently. Thom and I often joke that Kitty is the girl of a thousand loveys... first there was Stan, then Tooter, then Confetti, then all three of them at once... but now it seems to be Sammy. I had taken the kids to Target for some reason, usually I try to go there on my own, but I had told them they could each pick out something under $10.00. (I remember now, we were there to buy the kids shoes.) Jack always wants legos, but Kitty is usually a bit less precise and can be swayed by referrals from her mom or dad. At one unfortunate moment, we found ourselves in the Barbie aisle, and Kitty was pointing at dolls she wanted and I felt like the whole thing was happening in slow motion... like a scene from a movie. I'm not anti-barbie, per se, but until Kitty can tell me the brand name and specific one she wants by name I see no great hurry to start up the Barbie franchise at our house. We moved through that aisle quickly and found ourselves in front of a wall of stuffed animals. Kitty said, "PUPPY!" and thus a new lovey connection was made. There was some talk about what his name would be... Jack suggested 'Mr. Lulu' as the puppy has coloring similar to our real-live cat Lulu. The downside of this choice was that we already have a stuffed cat named 'Fake Lulu.' Might get too confusing. Kitty cam up with Sammy. Sammy is already quite the superstar having travelled yesterday to preschool for 'Show and Tell.'
Kitty is loving preschool... never gets upset when I leave, always comes bounding out to the car with a huge smile on her face. It warms a mother's heart. Below is her first work of art from preschool to come home in her backpack:

The other night Kitty and I were snuggling before bedtime. I said to her, "Kitty, you are my favorite girl." Without missing a beat she looked at me and said, "Mommy, you are my favorite woman."

Wedding on Cape Cod

This past weekend we spent at an amazingly lovely wedding on Cape Cod. It was Thom's cousin, Steve, and his longtime love, Anita, who were married on the beach. They've been together so long they actually attended our wedding in '01!. Here is the picture I got of "The Kiss":

I liked the way that picture came out... with the woman in front of me being in focus and the bride and groom sort of hazy in the background. We had such a great time... my mother-in-law, Gretchen, SIL Karen and future BIL Ed were there as well. I like any excuse to spend time with those three... but this wedding was really an intimate, fun time.
Here is a picture from the reception where Kitty is posing for the camera:

The kids had a blast running around in the water. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to pack underwear for Kitty and had brought all of these new pants for Kitty which turned out to be so big her hips couldn't keep them up. Kitty ended up wearing a pair of Jack's shorts.

Kitty's First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Kitty's first day of preschool... she is in the same class that Jack was his first day in preschool. She told me she was feeling 'a little nervous.' We talked about what would happen and I explained to her that I would not leave until the teachers rang their bell signaling to all the parents it was time to go. When the bell rang, I gave Kitty a kiss and left. I looked back at her and she was concentrating on using playdoh. When Jack and I picked her up, she told us she had a great time... they sat in a circle, they sang songs, they read books... she was beaming.

Creative Doings

I have been working in my studio a great deal recently... I'm working on a few things... a kimono-style purple coat for Kitty, making a pennant banner out of silk panels painted by my sister-in-law and some top-secret projects for Christmas. The kids have been flexing their creative muscles as well... above they are using rubber stamps. Jack has been full of ingenuity lately... I think the combination of school and the new PBS series 'Sid the Science Kid' has been revving him up. He decided he wanted to be a robot. He asked me to draw a robot face on a piece of paper and tape it to his forehead. I did.

This morning the kids were on the bay window ledge making 'presents' for the wedding we are going to next weekend. I thought it was a beautiful scene:

Weekend Recap + First Day of School

I have this clear memory of a photograph that was taken of me the day I started Kindergarten. My hand was on the front doorknob, a clown-like smile plastered across my face. I managed to get a semi-serious shot of Jack's first day. My little boy! Going to *real* school. Indicators are that he likes it. This morning he informed Thom and myself that he's decided that learning how to read and write may be a good thing. This after months of saying he HATES reading and writing. I know he was really excited this morning to go and barely gave me a backwards glance when I dropped him off at his classroom. I'm so proud of him.
This past weekend we had my friends Sam and Aaron along with their 2yo twins, Arthur and Miles, stay with us for two nights. We took them to Tyler Arboretum. I like the below picture, it is as if the boys are saying, "Who are those 2 kinds and WHAT are they doing?"

We also spent Saturday going to Longwood Gardens with my mom and dad. Below is a picture if them in the childrens' garden:

and here is Kitty and Jack playing in the childrens garden: